The UN Security Council on Monday gave the Palestinian Authority a new chance to become a full member of the United Nations.
The United States said that Israel and the Palestinians are not getting along well. This pretty much ends the Palestinian Authority’s hope of becoming a member of the UN for now.
The US is one of five important members who can say no to any council decision. The Palestinian Authority’s UN delegation said on Monday that they need to control all of the Palestinian territories and talk to Israel about becoming a state before they can become a state.
The Palestinian Authority controls some areas of the West Bank that are under Israeli occupation. Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007 and the forces were forced to leave. They don’t have any power in Gaza now.
US deputy ambassador Robert Wood said that the decision about whether Palestinians can become full members should be talked about between Israel and the Palestinians.
After many attempts at peace talks that didn’t work, the Palestinians are now asking the United Nations to help them become an independent state. Israel says these actions are trying to avoid the official discussions. Israel’s current government is led by people who are against giving the Palestinians their own state.
Last week, people who want to help the Palestinians join the United Nations asked the Security Council to consider their request again. The Palestinians tried to join in 2011 but it didn’t happen. The Palestinians are trying again to become a member of the UN. This is happening while the war between Israel and Hamas has been going on for almost six months. The conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, which has been going on for many years, is getting a lot of attention again.
Israel’s UN ambassador said that there is no chance for Palestinians to have their own country. He said this is because it is important for Israel to be able to keep existing.
“Even before the creation of the UN, the Palestinians have always wanted to destroy the Jews,” said Ambassador Gilad Erdan to reporters. The United Nations was created after World War II, and the harmful beliefs that led to the war are still common among the Palestinians.
The Security Council will make a decision about whether Palestine can join the UN this month. A committee will meet again on Thursday to talk about this. Vanessa Frazier, who is the president of the Security Council, said this.
“The Palestinian UN ambassador, Riyad Mansour, said this is a very important moment in history. ”
The leader of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, gave a request to the United Nations to become a member. He gave the request to the Secretary-General on September. On September 23, 2011, before speaking to leaders from around the world at the General Assembly.
“It was an important moment in the past, and now that moment has happened again,” Mansour told the reporters.
Tag: Security Council
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UN expectations for Palestinian Authority revived by Security Council
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Gaza vote was turning point for UN – Report
This is a very important moment for the Security Council. The secretary general has used a special power to ask for a ceasefire right away. It’s the first time he’s ever done this during his time in office.
Antonio Guterres will talk to council diplomats in a public meeting today after talking to many leaders on the phone, including the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and some Arab ministers.
Arab and Islamic countries quickly answered his letter with a proposal that will be voted on today.
Most of the council has been in favor of a quick stop to fighting, so everyone will be watching to see what the United States, who is Israel’s friend, will do. They haven’t said if they will use their veto again, but they have hinted that they will. The US thinks that it would not be helpful to make a decision right now.
If the council is stopped from making decisions by a member with a lot of power, it will make people wonder if the Security Council can do its job. -
UN Security Council urges Taliban to reverse restrictions on women
The UN Security Council has denounced Taliban government policies targeting women and girls in Afghanistan.
The 15-member Security Council said it was “deeply alarmed” by the increasing restrictions on women’s education.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the latest restrictions “must be revoked”.
A statement from the Council called for the “full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan”.
It urged the Taliban “to reopen schools and swiftly reverse these policies and practices, which represents an increasing erosion for the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
The ban on female humanitarian workers “would have a significant and immediate impact for humanitarian operations in country”, including for the UN, it added.
Mr Guterres said that the latest restrictions were “unjustifiable human rights violations”.
“Actions to exclude and silence women and girls continue to cause immense suffering and major setbacks to the potential of the Afghan people,” he wrote on Twitter.
At least five top NGOs halted work in Afghanistan after women were banned from working for them by the Taliban government.
Care International, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Save the Children said they could not continue their work “without our female staff”.
The International Rescue Committee also suspended services while Islamic Relief said it was stopping most of its work.
The Taliban last week arrested five women taking part in a protest in the Afghan capital, Kabul, over the ban on female education. Three journalists were also arrested.
Since seizing back control of the country last year, the Taliban have steadily restricted women’s rights – despite promising their rule would be softer than the regime seen in the 1990s.
As well as the bans on NGO workers and female university students – in the case of students, now being enforced by armed guards – secondary schools for girls remain closed in most provinces.
Women have also been prevented from entering parks and gyms, among other public places.
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Reform of the UN Security Council long overdue – Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has, once, again called for the reform of the Security Council of the United Nations, describing the current structure as an injustice against African countries.
Speaking at an event organised by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, on Wednesday, 10th November 2022, in New York, President Akufo-Addo noted that the Security Council is constrained by its anachronistic structure and methods, which undermine efforts to tackle contemporary challenges in the most effective manner.
“The conversations around reforms, which have been going on for three decades without an end in sight, must, therefore, yield real changes to the structures of the Council to make it innovative in its approach,” he said.
According to the President, the current structure of the UN Security Council represents a long-standing injustice toward the countries of Africa, and the time is long overdue in addressing it.
“It is obvious that the contemporary world has moved on significantly from the post-1945 world, which gave rise to the birth of the United Nations and the structure of the Security Council. The world of 2022, and even less that of 2050, is not the world of 1945. The crisis of the multilateral financial institutions and the United Nations system, which were born from the rubble of the Second World War, is a deep crisis,” President Akufo-Addo said.
He continued, “It will continue until a fair system is put in place; a system that reflects the new balances, no longer based on who lost or won the Second World War, but on the major contemporary and future balances. These balances must take into account new realities such as demographic dynamics or access to resources, in a context of scarcity.”
In its current state, the President noted that the Security Council is finding it increasingly difficult to propagate the rule of law and democratic principles.
“The use of the veto as an instrument of great power and interest is denuding the Security Council of a great deal of legitimacy as the principal instrument for the maintenance of international peace and security. The African Common Position on UN Reform, based on the Ezulwini Consensus, is of even greater relevance today than it has ever been. It is essential that it be brought back to the centre of global discourse,” he stressed.
President Akufo-Addo was confident that it will only be through the reforms that are suggested in the African Common Position that will enable the Security Council to be effective in addressing the challenges of our time.
“And it is only through its effectiveness at maintaining international peace and security that the Council can remain credible, legitimate and relevant,” he added.
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Ghana assumes presidency of UN Security Council on November 1
Ghana will assume the rotating monthly Presidency of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, 1st November 2022.
During the month of November 2022, Ghana shall preside over the meetings of the Council (adoptions, debates, and consultations) and, under its authority, shall represent the Security Council in its capacity as an organ of the United Nations.
The Security Council, which is composed of 15 Member States, is the organ of the United Nations authorised by the Charter with primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
The responsibility of presiding over the Security Council comes at a time when international peace and security are threatened in several parts of the world.
The President of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Shirley Ayorko Botwey are expected to be in New York during the period to participate in the meetings of the Security Council.
Key highlights of Ghana’s presidency are two signature events that will take place on 3rd and 10th November, as well as an exhibition of Ghanaian arts and a food tasting event.”
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Who is in charge of security? Why haven’t we been able to stop galamsey? – Asantehene
Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, has questioned why the security services haven’t been able to stop illegal mining (galamsey) in Ghana.
He claims that despite several initiatives and promises made by the government to eradicate the problem, galamsey is on the rise.
On Friday, September 30, 2022, the US Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia E. Palmer, paid him a courtesy visit at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi.
“However, who is in charge of the neighborhood’s security? up to the highest level, starting at the district level.
Everyone here is discussing galamsey. Why have we been unable to stop it if the government set up the military and police to do it?If you create a system that you say you will stop it to the extent that the president says “I will put my presidency on the line, and yet it is going on. Then to me, something is wrong somewhere. So we need to know why this is happening, polluting our waters”, he said.
Otumfuo also questioned the District and Municipal Security Councils over their failure to fight the menace.
“At the district level, we have the political administration, District Chief Executive, and the Security Council. Are they all saying that they are unaware of the activities of these galamseyers? If they are unable to detect and stop the operation of these galamseyers then they are unworthy to be there, it is as simple as that.”
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Halt operations, withdraw troops from Ukraine – Ghana admonishes Russia
Ghana has asked the Russian Federation to halt its military operation in the neighboring Ukraine.
Speaking at the United Nations (UN) Security Council meeting yesterday September 22, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, bemoaned the atrocities the ongoing war between the two countries has left in its wake.
She called on the Security Council to take urgent steps to prevent its own ‘near paralysis’ and end the war in Ukraine.
Ayorkor Botchway emphasized Ghana’s commitment to ensure that perpetrators of the heinous crimes in the war were brought to book.
“With the rising death toll, civilian casualties and growing reports of war crimes and other human rights violations, we must uphold our responsibilities as a Council and send a clear message that perpetrators of atrocities would be held to account,” she said.
The minister further admonished Russia to withdraw it troops from Ukraine in respect of the sovereignty and independence of the country which once formed part of the Soviet Union.
“We reiterate the call on the Russian Federation to immediately and unconditionally cease its operations, withdraw its troops from the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine and respect it neighbours sovereignty and political independence,” she reiterated.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year after the latter had shown signs of joining the European security bloc, Nato. The war has been condemned by a majority of world leaders.
The government of Ghana has also been partly blaming the ongoing war for it economic challenges.
Speaking on Wednesday, September 21, 2022; at the UN General Assembly Meeting, President Akufo-Addo indicated that the ‘bombs and bullets’ being launched at Ukraine was hitting the pocket of African countries.
“As we grappled with these economic challenges, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine burst upon us, aggravating an already difficult situation.
“It is not just the dismay that we feel at seeing such deliberate devastation of cities and towns in Europe in the year 2022, we are feeling this war directly in our lives in Africa.
“Every bullet, every bomb, every shell that hits a target in Ukraine, hits our pockets and our economies in Africa. The economic turmoil is global with inflation as the number one enemy this year,” he added.